New Hampshire
Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day vigils in Dover, Portsmouth, around NH
Nearly a dozen New Hampshire communities are hosting vigils this week to remember friends and family who passed away because of homelessness this year. Keene hosted a vigil on Monday, Concord had one Thursday, and more are scheduled Saturday, including in Dover and Portsmouth.
“It’s the first night of winter, the longest night of the year, the darkest day of the year,” said Maggie Fogarty from the American Friends Service Committee. “It’s a good time for a solemn reflection on the loss of our siblings to homelessness, also coming as it does during a season of celebration and of light.”
Fogarty helps compile the list of people who will be remembered at these vigils. She explained that it includes people who passed away while being unhoused, as well as people who died prematurely because of the toll from being unhoused, even after finding housing.
About 60 people will be remembered this year, either just with their name, or a memory from someone who knew them. While some names are submitted by friends and family, most are from people who provide supportive services to unhoused people.
She added that these vigils are also a chance for community members to reflect and commit to advocacy, especially because 2025 is a budget-writing year for state government.
“That commitment to system change and to ensuring that public policy, not just charity, combine to protect everyone from poverty,” she said. “That’s as important an aspect of this remembrance as the coming together as a community to remember our siblings.”
According to a new report, New Hampshire saw the highest percentage rise in homelessness in the country between 2022 and 2023. The number of people facing homelessness in the Granite State went up by roughly 52%, while other states’ saw an average increase of 12% during the same time period, according to the report.
The report is put out annually by the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness using information from a “point in time” count, which is an effort to count the number of homeless individuals in the state on a single day each year.
That data in the latest report suggests that New Hampshire saw a decline in veterans experiencing homelessness between 2022 and 2023. But the problem worsened for people dealing with chronic homelessness, single adults, families and sheltered individuals.
Homeless Persons Memorial Day vigils in Seacoast
Colebrook – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at 147 Main Street, in front of the Congregational Church. Contact: TRI County Community Action Program, ebecker@tccap.org
Concord – Thursday, December 19 at 4 pm at the State House, Concord. Contact: Angela Spinney, aspin@concordhomeless.org. Facebook event.
Conway – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at The Way Station, 15 Grove Street, Conway. Contact: TRI County Community Action Program, ebecker@tccap.org
Dover – Saturday, December 21 at First Parish Church, 218 Central Ave, Dover at 5 PM to 6 PM. Contact: Joyce Tugel, jtugel@gmail.com. Here’s the flyer.
Keene – Monday, December 16 at 5:30 PM at Saint James Episcopal Church, 44 West Street, Keene. Hosted by Hundred Nights, info@hundrednightsinc.org. More information here.
Laconia – Friday, December 20 at 5:30 PM at Isaiah 61 Cafe, 100 New Salem St, Laconia. Contact: Dawn Longval, dlongval@metrocast.net
Lancaster – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at the Centennial Park Green Gazebo on Main Street in Lancaster. Contact: TRI County Community Action Program, ebecker@tccap.org
Littleton – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at the Littleton Winter Shelter, 18 Pleasant Street Littleton. Contact: TRI County Community Action Program, ebecker@tccap.org
Manchester – Friday, December 20 at 6 PM at Veterans Park, Manchester. Contact: Crystal Butts-Ducharme, crystal.butts-ducharme@cmc-nh.org
Manchester – Saturday, December 21 at 12 noon at 1269 Café 456 Union St Manchester. Contact: Craig Chevalier craig@thetwelveonunion.org
Nashua – Saturday, December 21, 5 PM to 6 PM, at City Hall, at 229 Main Street Nashua. Contact: Tom Lopez, LopezT@NashuaNH.gov. Facebook event.
Newport – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at the Newport town common by the gazebo. Contact: Rev. Elisabeth Smith, Church of the Good Shepherd (United Methodist), pastorelisabeth415@gmail.com
Peterborough – Saturday, December 21 at 4 PM on the steps of the Peterborough Town House, 1 Grove Street, Peterborough, NH. Hosted by the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter (MATS). Contact: Susan Howard, mats.peterborough@gmail.com
Portsmouth – Saturday, December 21, 5 PM to 6 PM at South Church, 292 State Street, Portsmouth, hosted by CrossRoads House. Facebook event.
Upper Valley – Friday, December 20 at 5:30 PM at LISTEN Community Services, 42 Maple Street, White River Jct, VT. Contact: Lynne Goodwin, lynne.goodwin@lebanonnh.gov
NHPR’s Olivia Richardson contributed to this report.
These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.
New Hampshire
Police: Man stabbed during domestic dispute in Nashua, NH
NASHUA, N.H. — A Nashua woman was arrested after police say she stabbed her husband multiple times during a domestic dispute over trash inside their Kinsley Street apartment.
Keilin Hernandez, 25, was arrested on three counts of second‑degree assault with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony, after officers responded to a June 17 911 call that a man had been stabbed in the arm and hand, according to the Nashua Police Department.
The victim was treated at a local hospital for injuries that were not life‑threatening.
According to a complaint filed in court by police, the dispute began after the man told officers he found a cardboard box filled with trash inside a bedroom closet and confronted Hernandez about it. Hernandez gave a different account, saying the argument started over taking garbage out and escalated when the two began pushing each other.
The complaint states that the man told police that Hernandez scratched him during the struggle and later stabbed him in the left shoulder and “in the areas between his fingers” on his left hand with a kitchen knife as he tried to walk away with her phone, saying he intended to “ground” her by taking it.
Immediately after the incident, he said he left the apartment bleeding while Hernandez went to a downstairs neighbor’s unit with their 5‑year‑old son.
According to the complaint, he admitted to pushing his wife, but told police he pushed her “by the head,” not the neck, and denied choking her. He said he held Hernandez against the wall for less than five seconds.
Hernandez told police she acted after she was pushed against a wall and grabbed by the neck and chest. The complaint states that she said she scratched her husband to break free and attempted to call police. She alleged she grabbed the knife only after he twisted her arm to make her drop her phone and then followed her into the kitchen and “began to come at her.”
“Keilin stated she struck (her husband) with the knife to show him the pain he caused her from twisting her arm and grabbing her neck,” police said in the complaint.
Hernandez did not have any marks on her, according to police.
Police later searched the apartment with the couple’s consent and found a knife on the kitchen counter that matched the man’s description. Blood droplets were located throughout the residence.
Hernandez was arraigned in the 9th Circuit Nashua District Court on June 18 and no plea was entered on the three assault charges. She was ordered held without bail after a judge found probable cause that releasing her would endanger the community, according to court documents.
She is scheduled to return to court at 9 a.m. June 24.
In a press release about the incident, police asked anyone with information to contact the Nashua Crime Line at 603‑589‑1665.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
New Hampshire
National Guard Helicopter Rescues 80-Year-Old Canadian Hiker From New Hampshire Peak
An 80-year-old Canadian hiker required a military helicopter rescue from Franconia Ridge Wednesday afternoon after suffering chest pains near the summit of Mount Lincoln in New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department received a call at 4pm on June 24th, 2026, reporting that Andre Bissonnette, 80, of Orford Township, Quebec, was experiencing a medical emergency while hiking the ridge with his son Vincent Bissonnette, 45, of Drummondville, Quebec.
The two had ascended via the Falling Waters Trail when Andre began experiencing chest pains while traversing the ridge near Mount Lincoln. Vincent called 911 and a New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officer spoke with the hikers by phone, confirming Andre was unable to continue under his own power.
After determining that rescuers were still hours away and a ground carry-out would take several hours more, officials contacted the New Hampshire Army National Guard to coordinate a helicopter hoist.
A flight crew departed Concord and reached Mount Lincoln just before 6pm. Crew members lowered a medic to the hikers and hoisted both men into the helicopter. By 6:05pm, the aircraft was en route to Littleton Regional Hospital for further treatment.
New Hampshire Fish and Game reminds hikers that mountain weather can change rapidly and extreme conditions can develop without warning. Hikers are encouraged to check the Higher Summits Forecast at MountWashington.org before heading out and to carry the ten essentials: map, compass, warm clothing, extra food and water, headlamp, fire starter, first aid kit, whistle, rain and wind jacket and pants, and a knife. Additional preparedness information is available at HikeSafe.com.
Related
New Hampshire
New Hampshire has highest share of adults who identify as atheists
One-third of Americans support Christian nationalism, report shows
A new report finds about three in 10 Americans back or sympathize with Christian nationalism, according to the Public Religion Research Institute.
New Hampshire has the highest share of adults who identify as atheists in the U.S., at about 11%, according to a Pew Research Center study.
Nearly half of adults in the Granite State (48%) identify as religiously unaffiliated, a group that includes atheists, agnostics, and people who describe their religion as “nothing in particular.”
In the U.S. overall, 5% of adults identify as atheists, meaning New Hampshire’s share is more than twice the national average. About 29% of U.S. adults identify as religiously unaffiliated.
However, regionally, the West has the highest share of adults who identify as atheists among the four major U.S. regions – Northeast, Midwest, South, and West – according to the data.
The Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study (RLS) regarding Americans’ beliefs was conducted in English and Spanish from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 36,908 U.S. adults.
What is atheism? 10 US states with the highest percentage of atheists
Atheism is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods.” However, people may interpret and describe the term in different ways.
Here are the 10 U.S. states with the highest shares of adults who identify as atheists, according to data from the Pew Research Center:
- New Hampshire – 11% of residents
- Washington – 9% of residents
- Colorado – 8% of residents
- Massachusetts – 8% of residents
- Montana – 8% of residents
- Oregon – 8% of residents
- Vermont – 8% of residents
- California – 6% of residents
- Idaho – 6% of residents
- Maryland – 6% of residents
New Hampshire religious composition
About 45% of adults in New Hampshire identify as Christian, 5% identify with other religions, and 48% as religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center.
Breaking it down even further, 20% identify as Catholic, 13% as Mainline Protestant, 10% as Evangelical Protestant, 1% as Historically Black Protestant, 1% as Latter-day Saint (Mormon), 1% as Orthodox Christian, and less than 1% as Jehovah’s Witnesses or other Christian groups.
Roughly 1% identify as Jewish, less than 1% as Muslim, less than 1% as Buddhist, less than 1% as Hindu, less than 1% as Native American religions, and less than 1% as other world religions. About 1% identify with Unitarian and other liberal faiths, and 1% with New Age beliefs.
Among all adults in New Hampshire, 11% of all adults in New Hampshire identify as atheists, 1% as agnostics, and 29% with “nothing in particular.”
About 3% of respondents did not answer the question, the survey said. Additionally, the margin of error for the 2023-24 figures among adults in New Hampshire is plus or minus 8.0 percentage points.
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